Andrew Edward Thomson

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

is a former international lawn and indoor bowler. Known as Andy Thomson he was born in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, on 26 November 1955, and represented Scotland before deciding to represent England.

Bowls career

Thomson won the Buckhaven Club Championship at the age of 16 and one year later was the Fife under-30 champion. In 1978 he won the Scottish junior indoor title. After moving to Kent he claimed the 1981 EBA national singles. He represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the singles, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Eight years later he partnered Gary Smith in the pairs and they won a bronze medal at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

. In 1993 he partnered Gary Smith as the pair won the

World Indoor Bowls Championships The World Indoor Bowls Championship is an international bowls competition held annual at Potters holiday park in Hopton on Sea. The last week of the competition is televised live on BBC where the open singles and open pairs', women's singles a ...

Pairs title. Then in successive seasons he won the 1994 and 1995

men's singles title. In 1996 he was part of the men's fours who won the World Championships in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In 2008 & 2010 he won the pairs title with

Ian Bond Ian John Bond (born 8 June 1973) is an English international lawn and indoor bowler. Bond plays for the Exonia indoor bowls club and the Crediton outdoor bowls club. He won the Pairs title at the 2008 World Indoor Bowls Championship and repeat ...

and also became World Matchplay champion in 2008. At the WBT 2010 Awards Dinner he was awarded the 'Lifetime Achievement' Award as well as picking up his third World Indoor Pairs title. In 2012 Andy Thomson won his third World Indoor Singles title, 17 years after his previous success. Three years later he reached the final once more, but was defeated by Alex Marshall. Thomson spoke out against the new timing clock introduced for the 2013 World Indoor Championships. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

for services to bowls.The United Kingdom: In September 2018 Thomson retired from the England indoor team after reaching 114 caps. He later announced his full retirement following his wildcard participation in the 2021 World Indoor Bowls Championship.

Coaching

Thomson is a tactical coach for Bowls Australia and is part of the coaching team for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Andy Scottish male bowls players English male bowls players Living people Sportspeople from Fife 1955 births Commonwealth Games medallists in lawn bowls Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Bowls World Champions Indoor Bowls World Champions Bowls players at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Members of the Order of the British Empire Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games